President’s Message Karen Emerson

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek. – Barack Obama

This quote from President Obama speaks loudly about what we as a city, county, country, and individually need to be doing to make the 19^th Ward our Beloved Community. We are the people making change happen. That change happens by being involved, seeing something that needs to be done and setting about doing it. The 19^th Ward Community Association has been supplying our food pantries, picking up trash monthly in mini clean sweeps, and meeting our legislators. The Rotary and Kaboom has invested time and talent to the garden at Kenwood and Kirkland. This garden will be a sensory garden for neighbors, especially children to enjoy. The Neighborhood Service Center and our Street Liaisons are working with our small businesses, especially our small corner stores to prevent loitering and improve the street appeal. The business associations are working on improving the image of our business corridors with events like Ease on Down Thurston. The History and Archives committee is continuing to work on projects like the Rapids Cemetery Fourth of July choral event (more about that later). The schools committee is continuing to monitor school issues. The public safety committee continues to meet with Captain Jones at the monthly PCIC (Police and Citizens Interaction Committee). We also have a representative (Clayton Waller) on the PABA (Police Accountability Board Advisory committee). So if you are looking for something to do or see a need and want to address it, please come forward. 

Events this summer:

In cooperation with the City of Rochester and the 19^th Ward Community Association a choral musical event will take place at Rapids Cemetery the Fourth of July at 7pm. The choral group Coreopia will be performing. Please bring your own chairs.

August 6, 2022 we will be hosting a Community Garage Sale. We welcome you to host a garage sale at your own home or you can donate items to the 19^th Ward which will be sold for the benefits of the programs we run. We are NOT accepting any clothing, electronics or large furniture. 

Also on August 6th we will participate in PlayROCs. This event is a play date in cooperation with the City of Rochester and Common Ground Health to promote healthy habits.

The Westside Farmers Market is in full swing. You will find a great assortment of local fruits and vegetables, bake goods, kettle corn, organic meats, maple products, pickles and music. Come to 831 Genesee Street in the St Monica’s Parking lot for all the fun. If you missed last Tuesday you missed the free strawberry shortcake. There are free children’s arts and crafts every week. See you there!

Please take 5 minutes to participate in the City of Rochester Active Transportation Plan at RocATP.com. The city is looking to us to make our city more transportation friendly. Take the time and tell our representatives about how you would like to use bike and bus transportation.

The city pool at Genesee Valley Park had some unexpected construction delays. The hope is to have the pool open as soon as possible.

As always, I encourage you to continue supplying our food pantry.

Stay cool and enjoy!

Karen V. Emerson, President

19th Ward Community Association

AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD

For information on 19WCA membership, please go to our website 19wca.org or call our office manager, Ruth, at 585-328-6571.  Email:  19thward@19wca.org.

Rapids Cemetery

Monday, July 4, 2022 at 7:00pm
 
Celebrate the actual Fourth of July Independence Day with a free 45-minute outdoor musical event open to the public. Choral group Coreopia will perform uplifting and patriotic songs in the meditation garden at Rapids Cemetery at 90 Congress Avenue near Genesee Street at 7:00pm. Bring your own chair!

Rochester: Fireworks over downtown bridges

Rochester’s celebration is sweet, simple, and straight to the point: fireworks are set to go off at around 10 p.m.

The recommended viewing locations are:

• Main Street Bridge
• Broad Street Bridge
• Chestnut Street near the Washington Square Garage
• Any street surrounding these areas

Free parking is available at:

• South Avenue Garage, 39 Stone Street
• Court Street Garage, 194 Court Street
• Sister Cities Garage, 28 N. Fitzhugh Street

The following streets will close at 8 p.m. and re-open as soon as spectators leave the area.

Westside Farmers Market

You won’t want to miss out on the Westside Farmers Market, so stop by on Tuesdays between 4-7pm at 831 Genesee Street in St. Monica’s church parking lot to check it out!

Arnett Library

Garden Information

Flower City Looking Good Feeling Good Garden Contest.  In 2021, the contest was in August, but this year it will be held in July (about three weeks away) and the deadline to submit was July 1^st.  I say ‘was’ because I am extending the date to July 15^th in order to get more people and gardens involved.  You can nominate yourself, you can nominate your neighbor, you can nominate the garden at your local corner store!  In short, you can submit anyone’s garden that you admire.  The contest is inclusive:  it can be City land, a privately owned lot, on a business property, a right-of-way or street median, window boxes and containers…in short, anything that is green and growing.  The only garden we won’t accept is one done by a professional.  We’ll start the judging on July 18^th and go until we’re finished. 

So, if you’re thinking you’d like to test your skills and strut your stuff, we are ready to take it on!  You can submit the application automatically by going to our webpage at https://www.cityofrochester.gov/gardencontest/ .  If you do go to the website, just ignore the deadline to submit.  (I’ll try to get it changed as soon as I can.)

Here’s a list of the garden types you can enter under:

·         Best Container Garden

·         Best Use of a Water Feature

·         Best Wildlife/Pollinator Habitat Garden

·         Best Community Enhancement Garden

·         Best Urban Farm/Garden

·         Most Interesting Use of Art in the Garden

·         Suggest Your Own Category (Children’s, Whimsy, etc)

The qualities we’ll be judging each garden by will include:

·         Visual Impact – the ‘wow’ factor

·         Design – is it smart, is it sustainable, does it flow well

·         Maintenance – self-explanatory!

·         Accessibility – can the public see it, does it give value to the community

·         Abundance – does it provide a riot of color, attract a large # of species, have a bounty of food

We hope you consider participating and even more, that you pass on the info and get others to join.  Let’s have some fun with this and see what our city gardeners can do.  The sooner you get that application in, the better.  Call or write me if you have questions.

Also, we would like to change the name of the contest.  We’re looking for something shorter, maybe even a bit sassier.  Give us your best suggestions.

Diane Powell

Garden Permit Manager

30 Church St, Rm 223B

Rochester, NY   14614

585-428-6807

Diane.powell@cityofrochester.gov

FLYERS/EVENTS

MVP ROCnFree Fitness Program

This summer, MVP is excited to offer extensive fitness programming from 6/1 through 9/1 – available to everyone in the community regardless of MVP membership.

• Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:15 – 6:15 p.m. join usfor free yoga at Parcel 5 downtown. Click this link to register. *
• Wednesdays from 5:30-6:15 p.m. come to the MVP Fitness Court at Cobb’s Hill Park for free fitness classes by MBODY! Click this link to register. *

*All registration will be completed directly on the MBODY Website.

Committee Information

Reach out to our office manager if you would like to get involved.

AmazonSmile – smile.amazon.com  – You Shop.  Amazon Gives.  The 19WCA is listed as a charity, we receive 0.5% when you purchase. Thank you!!